Shule attacked last Friday steeped in rich history

For last week’s AJN which was datelined Erev Shabbat Parashat Chukat I wrote about the significance of that date commemorating the horrific burning of 24 wagonloads of manuscript talmudic books in Paris in 1242. Since that event – after which a fast day was actually instituted and observed for generations – this day became one to commemorate destruction of Jewish property through the centuries.

I concluded my words about this matter and subsequent similar events destructive of Jewish books and property with the sentence: “Yes, history has repeated itself but may we never again experience such events.” Little did I anticipate  that Erev Shabbat Parashat Chukat 5785/2025 – that very date – would once again be the subject of an attack which in this case, thanks to the alertness of a young boy, fortunately did not result in ultimate calamity but could well have so ended as it indicated that here in Australia in this very era practical, brutal antisemitism is alive and well.

The East Melbourne shule was founded in 1857 by Reverend Moses Rintel following his departure from the leadership of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation which commenced operation in 1841 and to which he was appointed as Melbourne’s first Jewish chief minister in 1849.

His departure was brought about because of differences between his views and those of his board, but in light of gold rush induced population growth, establishment of a second synagogue had justification. That aside, there were differences already then between the dominant established Anglo population and some new immigrants with more Orthodox European traditions who sought their one communal place of worship and affiliation.

Over time it became known as “the foreigner’s shule” – a reputation it kept until well into the 20th century but that was already enhanced by the arrival in Melbourne of Eastern European immigrants from the 1890s
Initially named Mikveh Israel (Gathering of Israel) Synagogue (the Hebrew name it still proudly bears), it was provided with a government land grant in 1859 on the corner of Little Lonsdale Street and Stephen Street (today Exhibition Street) in Melbourne’s city centre. A small shule was erected on that site in 1860. The congregation consisted primarily of Rintel’s followers, including German and Eastern European Jews who lived in Melbourne’s inner-city suburbs within walking distance of the synagogue (living within walking distance from a shule being essential for the Orthodox Shabbat observant). A decade later, seeking new and larger premises, that would serve a still further growing Jewish population (and also would be located away from what had sadly become a red light district where inter alia parents feared to send their children to Hebrew school) the congregation sought and received government permission to sell its granted property. However, still extant and largely maintaining its original form and appearance, the historic original shule building is now an Asian restaurant but with a main room named the Rintel Room to perpetuate the history of the building and  its congregational founder.

In 1873, land for the current shule building located at 488 Albert Street, East Melbourne, was purchased for the sum of 2261 pounds. Its location suited those seeking a not overly expensive salubrious neighbourhood with proximity to the business district and Victoria market.  The foundation stone was laid in March 1877 and the shule with school rooms and other necessary amenities at the rear was opened in September of that year in the presence of a crowd of resident Jews as well as communal leaders of all denominations.

Continuously in use since 1877, the current synagogue premises  is the oldest in Melbourne and the largest 19th-
century synagogue in Victoria. It is so listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and is classified by the National Trust of Australia due to its historical, social and architectural significance. (The only other 19th century synagogue in Victoria still in use is that of Ballarat, also heritage listed but non-metropolitan, smaller and with a less continuous use history.)

As is still evident today, when it came to building the synagogue no expense was spared. The two-storeyed synagogue was designed by then noted Melbourne architects Crouch & Wilson. The internal space is surrounded on three sides by a gallery carried by cast iron columns, each surmounted by an unusual arrangement of an impost block flanked by consoles. The main ceiling is panelled, with a row of large and unusual ventilators marking the location of former suspended gas lights. The original interior, particularly the bimah and Torah ark, remain in an intact state.

The building’s current facade, constructed in the style of Renaissance Revival, was completed in 1883. It comprises five bays. Tuscan pilasters divide the bays of the lower floor, and Corinthian pilasters divide the upper floor bays. Two dome-like mansard roofs flank the central pediment. In recent years renovations including stronger security doors that served as protection on the night of last week’s attack have improved the physical fabric of the building but without denigrating its historic significance.
Notable members of the congregation over the decades have included Sir Isaac Isaacs and Sir John Monash. Monash celebrated his bar mitzvah at the synagogue and as a boy also sang in its choir.

Rintel passed away in 1880 and subsequent ministers included Abraham Wolinski (1881–1883), Isidore Myers (1883–1889) Jacob Lenzer (1889–1921) Rabbi Solomon Mestel (1923–1930) and Wolf Rechter (1933–1949). During the 19th century and well into the 20th, shules were not just places for prayer and appointment of ministers for various ritual purposes but also heavily involved in circumcision, shechitah, education (qualifications and experience in those essential areas of communal life were a key to Rintel’s original appointment to Melbourne) and, until the chevra kadisha was established, tahara and burials.

Lenzer and Rechter were noted chazanim, establishing a shule tradition that attracted many from outside the district especially for the Yamim Noraim. Anecdotal evidence suggests that on an occasion when Yom Kippur on Shabbat coincided with a Grand Final there were some who left the MCG after the siren to make their way to the shule to hear the end of Rechter’s Neilah and the final shofar. In post-war years that tradition of chazanim as ministers continued with Chazanim Sternfein and Sher. Rabbi M Honig served in the 1970s; a highlight of his period of service was leading the 1977 centenary celebration.

Current Chief Minister is Rabbi Dovid Gutnick who also serves as an ADF chaplain. With forward-looking planning, seeking funds for upgrading the building and initiatives such as provision of services to central business district workers and functions such as the dinner that was taking place at the exact moment of the attack, he has reinvigorated what is the only synagogue of central Melbourne but was languishing in the absence of potential congregants other than those whose families had a long tradition of association with the shule, or locally resident or visiting University of Melbourne personnel and medical personnel or patients at the many city hospitals.

As the shule approaches its 2027 sesquicentenary we can only wish the congregation a bright and undisturbed  future.

Shabbat shalom,
Yossi

Yossi Aron OAM is The AJN’s 
Religious Affairs editor